LONDON.-The Greek Sale at Bonhams on December 13th achieved £6.1m with an auction of 209 pictures which saw 82 per cent of lots sold. This sale was £2m up on the last Greek sale earlier this year which made almost £4m.

The top picture in the sale, lot 10, Cesare Felix Georges dell' Acqua (Italian, 1821-1904) `Greek mother', made £938,400 against a pre-sale estimate of £100,000 to £150,000. Lot 143, Alecos Fassianos (Greek, born 1935) The messenger made £490,400 against an estimate of £80,000 - 120,000. Lot 31, Théodore Jacques Ralli (Greek, 1852-1909) Praying in a Greek church, Mount Parnassus, made £445,600 against estimate £120,000 - 150,000.

Terpsichore Angelopoulou, of Art Expertise, Bonbams agents in Greece commented: “This sale shows the growing strength of the Greek art market. We saw an amazing number of world record prices achieved in Bond Street today, no fewer than 14 and the highest price ever paid for a painting at a Greek sale.”